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Wednesday Media Transcript: Head Coach Pat Shurmur

Eric from BBI : Admin : 4/25/2018 1:26 pm
Head Coach Pat Shurmur
April 25, 2018
 
Opening Statement:
Day two. You had a chance to watch it yesterday. I thought, for the most part, the guys competed. There were some good plays, there’s some bad plays. I thought their attention to detail was pretty good. We did some good things throwing and catching. I thought the defense defended and stripped a couple of balls, which was good. When you watch a practice, I think sometimes you’ve got to be careful assigning blame to the good, the bad and the ugly because as you go through practice, there are mistakes that get made and there are reasons for it and that’s why you practice. So that you can go back in and clean them up and attempt to get better the next day. So, a good first day. As you just watched, we had our walk-through. The attention to detail has been good and we’ll try to add to it a little bit today. We’re going to add some high red zone stuff. The red zone is certainly, in my opinion, the most important part of the field. So, we get it going and all of the preparation early, so we’ll do it today and tomorrow. With that, I’ll take your questions.
 
Q: How much of your schemes are you going to install during this minicamp and do you focus on some areas more than others?
A: No, I think what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to teach the guys how to function. It’s important, especially on offense, and even on defense, when you’re playing multiple positions, to learn this thing conceptually and then go out and try to function and play fast. I think that’s what you’re trying to do. So, in terms of the scheme, it’s hard to say the percentage. There’s a good amount in, but I wouldn’t say if it’s over half or two-thirds or whatever.
 
Q: Was defensive tackle Damon Harrison’s absence yesterday an excused absence?
A: Yeah, I talked with him, I’m aware of why he wasn’t here. So, there’s no real issues there.
 
Q: How did you like the way quarterback Davis Webb looked?
A: Davis did a good job for the first time out. Again, I thought he’s just getting a feel for what we’re trying to do offensively and it was a good first day.
 
Q: Can you talk about the advantages of getting an extra minicamp and the disadvantages of having to balance this minicamp with preparing for this week’s NFL Draft?
A: Well, you’re right, we have things right in parallel here. But every year it’s the same way. Even if we’re not out here on the field in an extra minicamp, we’re still working with the players in preparation for the draft. There’s been a lot of work done on the draft behind the scenes, I mentioned it yesterday. We had some final meetings today and we’ll have some final, final meetings tonight and some final, final, final meetings tomorrow and then we’ll get ready to go. Actually, the preparation for the draft continues all the way up until you make the pick. So, that’s always the same. The advantage of having this extra minicamp, especially for me, is I get an opportunity as a new coach to watch the players, get to know them. You think you know them because you met them in your office, or you watched them do certain things, but you really don’t start to get to really know a player until you see him out moving around. And that’s been very, very good for me.
 
Q: Is there anything you learned about your two quarterbacks yesterday that you didn’t know before?
A: Well first, with Eli [Manning], this guy’s a pro. So, what you noticed about him is you only have to run a play or two and he gets the drill calibrated and he gets his feet right and he makes the throw. I quickly, after being with him one day on the field, see why he’s been so successful for so long. He’s a pro. And I admired what he did yesterday in the first time out. So, that’s first Eli. And then with Davis, you see his size, he’s got excellent arm strength. I think he moves around real well and it’s just a matter of just smoothing things out. So, that’s what you’re trying to get as you go through kind of a pattern, or kind of a sequence of practices.
 
Q: You have said that quarterbacks come in all shapes and sizes. You have two here that are big. Do you like that?
A: I fancy guys that are tall. You can see. Some of us are challenged in terms of height, so even in a setting like this, you’re trying to find sightlines. It’s no different for a quarterback when he is behind a very tall offensive line. All else being equal, as long as all the skillsets are equal or maybe even a little better than equal, guys that can see have a chance to be very good.
 
Q: You said you were aware of why Snacks isn’t here. Is it injury or personal?
A: No, it’s just we’ve spoken.
 
Q: Do you expect him back for the next camp?
A: I expect him back soon.
 
Q: How do you balance in the draft as a coach wanting to win and having a player that helps you right away with getting a potential franchise quarterback for the future?
A: Right, well I think really the narrative is that every player we pick is going to help us win. Done. And that’s the way I look at this. I really am excited about this draft because I really believe after going through the process and seeing the way that Dave (Gettleman) and Kevin (Abrams) and all the scouts and all the player evaluation people and all the conversation, I’m very confident that we are going to pick players that are going to help us in all rounds of the draft, so that’s where my excitement lies.
 
Q: What happened to Paul Perkins? He was in a sling yesterday.
A: Yeah, he’s got a sore arm. 
 
Q: Is there any advantage to the fact that you installed this offense with another team only two years ago?
A: Yeah there is. There is an advantage to how the whole thing came together. Mike Shula and I have familiarity; the coaches that we have are career coaches that we’ve hired – very outstanding teachers. There are things that will be very similar to the guys that were in Minnesota and then we’ve added things. There is a handful of things that the guys here on the Giants did a year ago that we’ve incorporated, so that’s sort of what happens. When you put new players together with new coaches, we like to think that we take all of the good things from our past and blend it with all the guys that start to come together and then that’s what becomes your offense. So I think that’s the process that we went through.
 
Q: You talked about seeing your players for the first time on the field and learning and seeing mistakes and watching video. For yourself, do you have to re-learn how to be a head coach?
A: Oh, I don’t know. I think I try to re-learn everything everyday and get better at things. I think it’s important for me to keep kind of a wide perspective on things. When you’re the offensive coordinator and there’s an interception, you’re super pissed off. Now, that’s your defense, so you’re sort of happy about that in some situations. So yeah, it’s easy to do – I think. We’ll figure it out.
 
Q: With Ereck Flowers not being here, are you able to call him and talk football? And if so, has anyone reached out to do that to gauge where he is?
A: Yeah, I’ve talked to him a couple of times. If you talk to the players, I’m sure there are certain players that have called him, but if they are not here – how much you can get done in a short phone call is not much. 
 
Q: Is he upset about the position move?
A: I don’t know. He hadn’t talked about that with me.
 
Q: With all the draft preparation that you have done, do you have a strong idea of the player that you want or intend to take at No. 2?
A: We have a strong opinion of the players that we really like and we would consider picking. 
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